Michael Schumacher, the seven-time Formula 1 champion, is “fighting for his life” after a ski accident in the French Alps, his doctors say. The driver remains in a critical condition in hospital in Grenoble with head injuries suffered on Sunday morning at the resort of Meribel.

The team treating him told a news conference on Monday morning; “We cannot tell you what the outcome will be yet,” Schumacher underwent surgery on arrival at the University Hospital in Grenoble. He remains in a coma and the medical team treating him said that they are working “hour by hour”. “All we can do is wait,” they added.

Prof Jean-Francois Payen told reporters that if Schumacher had not been wearing a protective helmet “he wouldn’t be here now”. “We had to operate urgently to release some pressure in his head,” the anaesthetist said.

Neurosurgeon Stephan Chabardes said that a post-operative scan had shown “diffuse haemorrhagic lesions” on both sides of Schumacher’s brain. The doctors refused to comment on his prognosis.

The 44-year-old German was skiing off-piste with his teenage son when he fell and hit his head on a rock. Following the accident, Schumacher was evacuated to the hospital in the nearby town of Moutiers.

Prof Chabardes said the driver was in an “agitated condition” on arrival in Moutiers and his neurological condition “deteriorated rapidly”. He was taken from Moutiers to the larger facility in Grenoble.